Carol Hall's JENNY REBECCA Featured at Carnegie Hall 4/22

Award-winning composer Carol Hall'S beloved classic "JENNY REBECCA" will be featured in Frederica von Stade'S farewell New York recital this Thursday evening, April 22nd at Carnegie Hall, Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage at 8:00pm.

Ms. Von Stade will be accompanied by Martin Katz on Piano with special guests: Richard Stilwell (Baritone), Samuel Ramey (Bass), Emil Miland (Cello) and Lee Hoiby (Piano).

For this Thursday evening's program, Frederica von Stade and Martin Katz crisscross the Big Pond multiple times, with a side excursion into Austria. They begin in Paris with two songs linked by the word "rose." The musical bonds between the American pianist and composer Jake Heggie and Ms. von Stade are long and strong; it was for her and to her words that he composed the song cycle Paper Wings. Its buoyant title song is followed by Maurice Ravel's irresistible arrangement of a Greek popular melody. Two American composers whose lives spanned the 20th century, Virgil Thomson and Aaron Copland, follow. Hoiby's wickedly funny "The Serpent" provides comic relief both for musicians (who know this type of wannabe singer all too well) and the non-musicians who must listen to them. Next they go back to Paris for songs by the quintessential Parisian Francis Poulenc, Ned Rorem in his "Paris period" (1949-1958), and the little-known Marc Berthomieu, with two works from his song cycle about the gardens of Paris.

The second half begins with Gustav Mahler's deliciously sarcastic "take" on music critics and judges, followed by an air from Ambroise Thomas's opera Mignon, based on a novel by the great German writer Goethe. Carol Hall's tender welcome to a newborn child in a song first popularized by Barbra Streisand is next, followed by another song about, for, and to a child: the second extract from Heggie's Paper Wings. Returning to Thomas's Mignon, we hear the French version, both wistful and passionate, of Goethe's famous poem, "Kennst du das Land." Ravel's witty musical comment about some young women's motives for matrimony is paired with American composer William Bolcom's and poet Arnold Weinstein's cabaret scat-song about "Amor," which can change everyone and everything for the better. A truly cosmopolitan song follows, its text originally in Russian, translated into German, and set to music by Pauline Viardot-a Spanish composer who was born in Paris. We end the evening with Stephen Sondheim's gorgeously melancholy "Send in the Clowns."

Tickets are $36 - $109. Reservations: Carnegie Charge 212-247-7800
ABOUT Carol Hall
Composer / lyricist / playwright

The first person ever to record one of Carol Hall's songs was the young Barbra Streisand. Subsequently, her songs were performed by such extraordinary singers as Tony Bennett, Barbara Cook, Margaret Whiting, Julie Wilson, Chita Rivera, Michael Feinstein, Mabel Mercer, Amanda McBroom, Lari White, Olivia Newton-John, Maureen McGovern, Miriam Makeba, RuPaul, David Campbell, Frederica von Stade, Kermit the Frog and Big Bird. Among others. She's also one of the few songwriters to have a hit Broadway show. Her classic musical THE BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS entertained Broadway audiences for almost five years, received a Grammy nomination for its cast album, and became a popular film starring Burt Reynolds and Dolly Parton. Dolly's recording of Carol's song "Hard Candy Christmas" won an ASCAP Most Performed Country Song Award, and the film generated an OSCAR nomination for Charles Durning, singing "The Sidestep" as the slippery Governor of Texas. A recent national tour of WHOREHOUSE starring the entertainment legend Ann-Margret, enjoyed a run for over a year and a half. Carol also does a lot of writing for children. Her "It's All Right To Cry," and "Parents Are People" continue to be favorites of generations of children. Recently she created the score to the theatrical version of the popular children's series MAX AND RUBY. Four tours of the show are presently playing across the country, after a successful debut opening Off-Broadway in December 2007. Her most recent delight has been the making of her CD "HALLWAYS: The Songs of Carol Hall" which features many of her most loved and wonderful songs - both old and brand new - such as the hit "Hard Candy Christmas," as well as the timeless classic "Jenny Rebecca". As Carol says in the CD's booklet, "a song is not a song until somebody sings it..." And what an array of singers she has here! In addition to Carol, performing on the CD are Amanda McBroom, Johnny Rodgers, Scott Coulter, Tim DiPasqua, Tom Andersen, Lesley Gore, Susannah Blinkoff, Farah Alvin, Steven Lutvak, Laurel Massé, Bobby Gosh, Rick Jensen, Carol Woods and the Broadway Inspirational Voices. "HALLWAYS: The Songs of Carol Hall" was co-produced by Tex Arnold, who also served as its musical director, responsible for the exquisite arrangements. It was spectacularly engineered by Bill Moss at the famous NOLA Recording Studios, NYC. "HALLWAYS: The Songs of Carol Hall" most recently earned Carol her third prestigious BISTRO AWARD as this year's winner for the 2009 ASCAP Award for Outstanding CD. The CD was also nominated for three MAC AWARDS including Best Song, Best Special Material and Best Recording; winning Best Special Material for her highly acclaimed song "This is My Birthday".